The Supreme Court has sought the Centre's response on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy among Muslims, arguing it violates fundamental rights and creates legal asymmetry by exempting Muslim men from bigamy laws applicable to other citizens.
The Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra has swiftly distanced itself from MLA Sana Malik's controversial statements on talaq and polygamy, reiterating its firm commitment to women's rights and constitutional principles.
The opposition parties, including Congress, Raijor Dal and Trinamool Congress, opposed the move and demanded wider consultation with all the stakeholders before its introduction.
The Assam assembly on Thursday passed a bill to ban polygamy, making it an offence which may lead to a maximum of 10 years of imprisonment, barring some exceptions.
'Every issue that Muslims are facing today affects Muslim women. But how come women's issues don't affect the community?' 'How does the community benefit by the practice of halala or polygamy?'
Himanta Biswa Sarma's return as Assam's Chief Minister underscores the BJP's increasing dominance in the northeast, marked by both development and divisive policies.
The Delhi high court on Monday sought the Centre's stand on a PIL to declare that bigamy or polygamy by a Muslim husband in the absence of prior written consent of the existing wife or wives and arrangements for her accommodation and maintenance is unconstitutional and illegal.
The Supreme Court said on Thursday it will set up a fresh five-judge Constitution bench to hear the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy and 'nikah halala' among Muslims.
The Kerala High Court has stated it cannot accept multiple marriages of a Muslim man when he cannot maintain his wives, especially when one seeks maintenance. The court's observation came during a case where a woman sought maintenance from her husband who survives by begging.
The Assam government wants to ban polygamy as "a component of the Uniform Civil Code" and will form a committee to examine whether the state legislature was empowered to prohibit the practice prevalent in parts of the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday.
The top court issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and minority affairs as well as the National Commission of Women after taking note of the plea of Delhi-based woman Nafisa Khan challenging the practice of polygamy and 'nikah halala', and said that the matter will be taken up a five-judge Constitution bench.
Sarma said his government was looking forward to the legislation on the Uniform Civil Code, which will be considered during a special four-day session of the Uttarakhand assembly that is starting from February 5.
Sharing a government public notice on 'X', formerly Twitter, Sarma appealed to the people to send their suggestions on the proposed law to ban polygamy in Assam.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) to pleas challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy and 'nikah halala' among Muslims.
The Supreme Court said on Thursday that it will set up a fresh five-judge Constitution bench at an "appropriate stage" to hear pleas challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy and 'nikah halala' among Muslims.
The panel, headed by Justice (Retired) Rumi Phookan, has been asked to submit its report within two months, the chief minister said in a tweet on Thursday night.
The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its affidavit, referred to constitutional principles like gender equality, secularism, international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to drive home the point that the practice of triple talaq and polygamy needed to be adjudicated upon afresh by the apex court.
The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will set up a five-judge Constitution bench to hear pleas challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy and 'nikaah halala' practice among Muslims.
'Due to lack of understanding or patriarchal misinterpretation, a common notion was generated that if you are a Muslim man you can marry four times.'
The decision to repeal the Act was taken at a late-night cabinet meeting on Friday as it is an obsolete pre-Independence Act of the British for the then province of Assam, the CM said.
The application has been filed to oppose a batch of petitions on which the apex court had in 2018 issued notices to the Centre and other stakeholders while referring the matter to a 5-judge Constitution bench.
Sources said the panel has also recommended that boys and girls will have equal inheritance rights, registration of marriages will be made mandatory and the marriageable age for girls would be increased so that they can become graduates before marriage.
'The BJP may no longer be in power after 2024, that doesn't mean we'll stop this campaign against polygamy.'
The CM also said that to prevent the sale of land from the indigenous communities like tribals and Adivasis to others in undivided Goalpara district, a strong law will be brought.
The BJP government in Gujarat has formed a five-member committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, to assess the need for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state and to draft a bill for the same. The committee will submit its report within 45 days. The decision has sparked debate with the Opposition claiming it is an attempt to divert attention from pressing issues ahead of the upcoming local body polls, while the government insists the UCC will protect the rights of tribal communities. The committee will consult with religious leaders, including those from the Muslim community.
The government had said on Friday that it would oppose the practice of nikah halala when the top court examines its legal validity.
There are several myths being spread about the Muslim population in India which are creating hostility among the Hindus against the Muslims, Quraishi said during a discussion on his book The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India at the India International Centre in New Delhi.
'UCC should be across India and legally applicable to every Indian citizen.'
The high court also stated that time has come for the country to embrace the uniform civil code as such provisions are in violation of the Constitution.
The apex court had on March 30 observed that practices of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims were important issues involving "sentiments" and a Constitution bench would hear the pleas challenging these from May 11.
'Triple talaq and polygamy are likely to be the next ground on which Hindutva will assert itself.' 'And, as with other issues where this has happened, we must anticipate trouble.'
In the wake of a raging controversy over the issue of 'love jihad' raised by right wing outfits, All India Muslim Personal Law Board has decided to remove misconceptions among people with regard to the subject besides concepts pertaining to the Islamic law.
India has previously rejected the US state department's annual human rights report on the country, saying they continue to be based on "misinformation and flawed understanding".
Directing officials to prepare a plan for taking views of Muslim women, the CM asked minister of the department and all women ministers in his cabinet 'to talk to women organisations'.
Crucial reforms in Muslim personal law, especially laws related to inheritance and adoption, need to be initiated forthwith; historically speaking, without the State's backing, hardly has any reform taken place or allowed to prevail, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
The board said that practices provided by Muslim Personal Law on the issues of marriage, divorce and maintenance were based on holy scripture Al-Quran and "courts cannot supplant its own interpretations over the text of scriptures".
In order to formulate a Uniform Civil Code, the Law Commission has sent out of list of 16 questions to gauge public opinion,
Making an intervention during the discussion on the motion for granting constitutional status to the national commission for backward classes, Modi highlighted that there are sections among Muslims, who are backward, adding that they should be included in the discussion over backward classes.
The Uttarakhand assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill, which may serve as a template for other Bharatiya Janata Party-run states to enact similar legislation.
Members of the Congress and AIUDF, protesting against a Cabinet decision to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, staged walkouts later.
